This is what I hate about Taiwan.
This is what I love about Taiwan.
More than 25 years ago I came here and was bitching about Taiwan every day.
I was exploited and abused in the workplace.
They were crazy rules about how long a foreigner could have their driver’s license for or pursue different kinds of jobs
Our children could not be citizens even though the mother was Taiwanese.
No one followed any rules.
Well the work issues and equality has been sorted out but the rest of the stuff I have seemed to evolve to love.
Many of the things I hated have disappeared and now I miss them.
What is Taiwan to you?
What makes Taiwan Taiwan?
I’m fortunate to have married into a rural family where we had large get togethers and my children are growing up with lots of cousins.
I think what makes Taiwan is the disregard for unnecessary rules and regulations and the idea that things can be handled on a personal basis.
It kept Taiwanese culture going through the Japanese occupation and the “invasion” of the KMT.
People do not necessarily like each other but differences seem to respected.
Here are two videos that echo my feelings…
Great post ! All so true , lots of changes for the better but still miss some of old times. I’m fortunate to have meet good people here and a happy life. (Does not mean richer as I maybe would have been if I stayed from where I am from)
I think some, maybe just a few, are not for the better. And I State this as a survivor of exploitation and abuse as well as annoyance. But I want to hear other opinions
Traffic is better! For newcomers it seems bad but was worse before. The Air is better. The bad is real estate prices and the gap in Salaries. Your money gave you a better life before on an average salary now its harder. The decline of some small towns is sad but this has also changed in some smaller towns with less younger people moving to the Taipei Metro.
I’ve been in Taiwan over two decades.
I’m not satisfied with certain things here especially how mono ethnic (I got tired of being 'the foreign guys years ago just because I am white ) it is, the tardiness in opening up to new citizens and also it’s getting way too small for me during this pandemic.
Also where my inlaws are there are hardly any children left and no cousins for the kids compared to homeland. Kids are going extinct.
Also almost everybody driving motor scooters and massive cars and diesel buses still, that is seriously disappointing . We have electric scooters , buses, buses and cars now, what’s the problem !!!
Also the drivers are assholes.
Taiwan isn’t bad, , some national parks are world class (and I’m a huge fan of Pingdong nature and aboriginal areas actually Seeker ) it’s certainly got richer and much easier to live here , it’s just a bit small to be stuck on your whole life and not really fitted to my lifestyle wants anymore, can I summarise it that way. I’ve got a lot to contribute and I don’t think Taiwan wants me to contribute just wants to put me in the ‘foreigner zone’, meanwhile Taiwanese go to America , to Canada and want to claim both nationalities and culture …But we are kept at arms length. Something fundamentally wrong about that attitude.
I think the roads have gotten worse. Years ago someone in their expensive brand new BMW or Merc wouldn’t try and run you over in case they scratched their car. These days it’s usually a lease and insured so they don’t care anymore. Cellphones and public transport. OMG. Taiwanese are bad enough with zero peripheral vision. They don’t need show off their spatial ignorance when people are trying to get on or off trains and such.
I miss a lot of the old food spots that have closed over the years. Many of those people retired and moved overseas while still owning the buildings they used to run their businesses from.
There are still a lot of businesses that will try and take advantage of foreigners but it has gotten easier to be able to report them. Google and the various web forums have also exposed a lot of the dodgier ones. But there’s still a lot of places that try and tie you into minimum hours contracts that pretty much mean you’re running from one school to the next. Usually in the middle of rush hours like when schools get out and the roads are crammed.
I miss the old rowdiness a bit at times.
The temple music and parades even the annoying funerals and street weddings . It’s not so common up North anymore. You really have to go central and south to see much. I like Taiwans old towns such as Douliu those kinds of places. That’s kind of the real heart of Taiwan . People used to be more outgoing but with modern tech they kind of closed off a bit. Like the way the taxi drivers hardly talk either these days. Again it’s likely a global issue. And a man issue lol.
I don’t miss the street dogs everywhere.
There’s still street dogs around if you know where to look. They usually make dens along the river parkway. Hiding in the long grass. There was a tribe of them near a car license testing center where there was a sort of sublet farm next to it and a temple up on top of a purpose built hill. There was a shelter that started collecting them over the years and adopting them out after having them fixed so they couldn’t breed. Been a long time since I’ve been randomly invited to a street party. Glad to not be invited to weddings. I am tired of Taipei though. Thankfully not on contract anywhere so might consider moving to the East Coast for a bit of change.
I haven’t been here as long as you guys, but you mentioned dogs and it made me think. When I first arrived in 2008 I was surprised by how many stray dogs I saw, and even more shocked by the abuse I witnessed. These days I rarely see strays, and I haven’t seen anyone be mean to a dog in a long long time. Maybe things have gone overboard as pets are walked in strollers now, but it’s positive change nonetheless.
Well it’s hard to argue with that in some respects. But Taiwanese culture is very boisterous and noisy. It’s not really obvious in most places up North these days . It depends what one likes…I like to visit the odd temple but not live beside the temple so to speak.
Our local temple is rich and jolly!!!
During certain holidays the gods (in costume) march through every street and every alley of this town beating drums and lightning fireworks spreading luck and good fortune.
If they fail to go down one small street the residents feel crushed.
I saw a guy arguing almost in tears.
At the main temple, fireworks are streaming into the sky 24h. You can see it from most parts of town.
The drums, marching and fireworks sound like an advancing army.
Even the elementary school has to pause from meaningful lessons when they are “blessing” the area.
I hated it, now I love it.
Someone mentioned cellphones killing social life.
I remember the year they caught on. We would have a multi family buried chicken barbecue every few years. The kids would play together. But then one year everybody had their own cell phone and they were just staring at their phone with their headsets on.
there’s good news on that front that parents told the kids to put them away.
At multi-family camping trip this year the cell phones were used as they should, be a small TV to share anime on.
No one was wearing headphones
and people were socializing.
